Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine can now explain how the body determines whether there are enough mature B-cells in the blood stream at any one time. These are the cells that produce antibodies against germs to fight infections.

Cholera is a major killer and since the first pandemic in the early 19th century it has claimed millions of lives. According to Amit Lerner from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, the lethal infection is harboured by an equally infamous insect: chironomids (midges). Lerner explains that the females contaminate water sources with the deadly bacteria when laying their eggs.

The first stage of the U.S. Department of Defense-funded clinical trials exploring the role of hospital touch surfaces in the transmission of infectious pathogens has been completed and the researchers reported their findings in a poster session at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, October 28.

Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) have successfully tested a genetic strategy designed to improve treatment of human infections caused by the yeast Candida albicans, ranging from diaper rash, vaginitis, oral infections (or thrush which is common in HIV/AIDS patients), as well as invasive, blood-borne and life-threatening diseases.

Infection is the leading cause of infant deaths worldwide, and particularly a common killer of weaker, pre-term infants. Current diagnostic tests can be slow and non-specific, but researchers have now identified potential biomarkers in the blood that can rapidly identify both the onset of infection and type of microbe.

Although exacerbation of UC usually poses little diagnostic dilemma, physicians should remain cognizant to the possibility of an alternative cause for patient symptoms.

Will the 'bare below the elbows' rule for doctors cut infection rates or just patient confidence?

Infections following treatment in clinics, retirement homes, and long-term care facilities are a grave problem for patients, and resistant germs can be particularly devastating. “High infection rates are in particular observed related to implants, catheters, and stents,” reports Karl Gademann, “those for urinary catheters mounting up to 30 % per week!”

From the moment we are born, we all come into continuous contact with microbes that can cause disease. To deal with them, we have a highly effective immune system that allows our bodies to identify and eliminate agents that cause infections.

Persons infected with schistosomes, and possibly other parasitic worm infections, may be more likely to become infected with HIV than persons without worm infections, according to a study published July 23rd in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. Researchers at the U.S.

Protective clothing worn by firemen and other emergency workers may soon get a germ-fighting upgrade. Researchers in South Dakota report progress toward the first Kevlar fabrics that can kill a wide range of infectious agents, including bacteria, viruses, and the spores that cause anthrax.

Scientists here have found that certain substances from bacteria living in the human intestine cause the normally harmless Candida albicans fungus to become highly infectious.